"Shootings in high schools and colleges are unfortunately very ?American? things in my mind," Nareg. "Maybe it?s because of the media coverage, but I?m not sure if I?ve ever heard of such tragic incidents with such regularity in other parts of the world."
Nareg was reacting to a 2010 incident in which a student at the University of Louisville at a meeting with faculty. Luckily no one was hurt in that incident, but it certainly wasn?t the first gun-related incident at an educational institution - universities are still reeling from the 2007 shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, when student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people - and, as we found out last week, it?s far from the last.
On Friday, December 14, the U.S. and the world were shocked by news that 20-year-old Adam Lanza had , killing 20 young children and six women.
"I heard the news of this unfortunate event on Friday afternoon as I was coming from my final exam for my first semester in an American college," said Phillip, a Zimbabwean freshman at Bates College. "I wanted to cry for the loss of the young lives. I wanted to cry for the loss of the creativity, intelligence, talent and enthusiasm for life in those young boys and girls."
He also said he began to think about the gun culture in America, as did many other international students.
"I arrived in August, just a few weeks after the shock of the Colorado massacre [], and yet this ugly and tragic issue has come around again so soon," reflected Tom, who comes from England and is studying at the University of Maryland.
"I have to admit, one of my earliest concerns when coming to America was my vulnerability to gun crime."
"I feel safer in my country," agreed Silu, a Chinese graduate student at Michigan State University. "In China, no individual can own a gun."
Silu added, "Of course, violence can be presented in different ways," a fact underscored by at a Chinese primary school on the same day as the Connecticut shooting. But for her the response to the massacre in Connecticut was simple: "Maybe it is time for the U.S government to reconsider gun control, after all these tragedies."
For Americans, however, the issue is not necessarily so clear-cut. While many are vehemently calling for stricter gun control laws to prevent future violence, those defending gun ownership rights react with equal intensity, arguing that self protection is the best way to stop incidents before they turn to mass violence.
It's not the easiest position for many international students to understand.
"The gun culture of this country is probably the most bewildering thing about America to me," said Tom.
The U.S. is divided almost down the middle on the issue of gun control, according to the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. , 47% said it was more important to control gun ownership, while 46% said it was more important to protect the rights of Americans to own guns.
The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is interpreted as providing the right to bear arms, and as a result some pro-gun groups argue that the government does not have the authority to restrict gun ownership. Gun rights groups also argue that gun ownership is a crime deterrent, and that restricting ownership will only prevent law-abiding citizens, not criminals, from obtaining guns.
Tom described his classmates' views on gun control like this:
A 10-year federal ban on assault weapons expired several years ago, and "since that ban expired in 2004, few Americans have wanted stricter laws and politicians say they don't want to become targets of a powerful gun-rights lobby."
The massacre in Connecticut seems to have around gun ownership.
College campuses have been a central focus of the fight over gun control in recent years, with several states reopening the question of whether weapons should be allowed on campus.
Like many other public policies in the U.S., most gun regulations are currently set at a state or local level, rather than by the federal government.
(NCSL), in 2012 16 states introduced legislation to allow concealed carry of firearms on campus, and three states introduced legislation to prohibit concealed carry. All of those measures failed, save two that are still pending.